Safety and immunogenicity of an oral DNA vaccine encoding Sip of Streptococcus agalactiae from Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus delivered by live attenuated Salmonella typhimurium

Fish Shellfish Immunol. 2014 May;38(1):34-41. doi: 10.1016/j.fsi.2014.02.017. Epub 2014 Mar 12.

Abstract

Attenuated Salmonella typhimurium SL7207 was used as a carrier for a reconstructed DNA vaccine against Streptococcus agalactiae. A 1.02 kb DNA fragment, encoding for a portion of the surface immunogenic protein (Sip) of S. agalactiae was inserted into pVAX1. The recombinant plasmid pVAX1-sip was transfected in EPC cells to detect the transient expression by an indirect immunofluorescence assay, together with Western blot analysis. The pVAX1-sip was transformed by electroporation into SL7207. The stability of pVAX1-sip into Salmonella was over 90% after 50 generations with antibiotic selection in vitro while remained stable over 80% during 35 generations under antibiotic-free conditions. The LD50 of SL/pVAX1-sip was 1.7 × 10(11) CFU/fish by intragastric administration which indicated a quite low virulence. Tilapias were inoculated orally at 10(8) CFU/fish, the recombinant bacteria were found present in intestinal tract, spleens and livers and eventually eliminated from the tissues 4 weeks after immunization. Fish immunized at 10(7), 10(8) and 10(9) CFU/fish with different immunization times caused various levels of serum antibody and an effective protection against lethal challenge with the wild-type strain S. agalactiae. Integration studies showed that the pVAX1-sip did not integrate with tilapia chromosomes. The DNA vaccine SL/pVAX1-sip was proved to be safe and effective in protecting tilapias against S. agalactiae infection.

Keywords: Attenuated Salmonella typhimurium; DNA vaccine; Oral immunization; Streptococcus agalactiae sip gene; Tilapia.

Publication types

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Administration, Oral
  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Bacterial
  • Antigens, Bacterial / immunology*
  • Antigens, Bacterial / metabolism
  • Cichlids*
  • Fish Diseases / prevention & control*
  • Plasmids / metabolism
  • Salmonella typhimurium / metabolism*
  • Streptococcal Vaccines / adverse effects
  • Streptococcal Vaccines / immunology*
  • Streptococcus agalactiae / immunology*
  • Streptococcus agalactiae / metabolism
  • Vaccines, DNA / administration & dosage
  • Vaccines, DNA / adverse effects
  • Vaccines, DNA / immunology

Substances

  • Antibodies, Bacterial
  • Antigens, Bacterial
  • SIP protein, Streptococcus group B
  • Streptococcal Vaccines
  • Vaccines, DNA